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http://www.smspower.org/Homebrew/DARC-SMS

Zipper wrote

Hi, here is my entry for the coding competition.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish the game in the short time span. The planning was very tight and my personal life (read: work) took away too much of my free time.
I was able to finish the main game engine. But the level design is far from finished. I still hope you enjoy the game even if it is rather short.
After submission I will continue working on the game to complete the level design adding all planned features.

DARC
=======================
DARC is a jetpack shooter game inspired several games ("Air fortress"(NES), “H.E.R.O”. and "Hero Core"(PC)). The protagonist can fly and shoot in separate directions. Each of the gamepad keys represent a shooting direction. Your goal is to infiltrate the alien fortress. Destroy the cores to disable force fields and advance through the game. During the game your shooting level will increase. As your level increases you will be able to destroy the blue and red crates found in the levels.
During your exploration you can use the [PAUSE] button to show your current location in a map. Only the explored areas are visible.

Compatibility:
-----------------------
The game supports the FM unit for music playback. If no FM unit is found there will be no music.

The title screen is not supported by all emulators but it works on real hardware (although with some faulty pixels). Preferred emulators are 'Meka' and 'Kega Fusion364'.

Credits:
-----------------------
Code: Richard Cornelisse (Huey aka Zipper)
Music: John Hassink
Graphics: Richard Cornelisse

I used the following programs to make this game:
- CharacterMaker1999 (gfx)
- Bmp2Tile (gfx)
- AyEdit (sfx)
- Moonblaster 1.4 (music)
- BlitzBasic+ (level editor)
- sjasm (assembler)
- UltraEdit (coding)

Greetings to all people at SMSpower.org for your help and support!

DARC-01.png (1.92 KB)

DARC-03.png (2.36 KB)

DARC-SMS-1.00.zip (44.48 KB)

The most polished entry on the competition. Can't wait to see the finished product.

I agree with Haroldoop, this entry is very polished and the music is sweet too :D
I do wish for scrolling but I guess this will require reworking the game...

It reminds me quite a bit of Battle Kid for the Nes, which is very much a compliment as its one of the best games for the nes, home brew or otherwise. Not that its overly similar, as the jet-pack game play and darker mood of the game set it apart, but the way the game flows from static screen to screen without feeling clunky and the overall polish of the game is very similar.

Thanks for the battle kid (and other) compliments. Both are different in game-play but I understand what you mean.

I really like to work with the SMS VDP features and limitations. Although I do miss the ability to change vertical scroll on line interrupt; That would have been awesome.

As for scrolling; I simply forgot to think about it as my main inspirations (Hero Core and H.E.R.O.) are non-scrolling too.

Awesome.
My favorite entry on the coding competition, mostly because it is the most polished one.

The graphics are pretty, the gameplay is fun, the music is really cool.

If this was released in 1987, i could see it becoming a huge hit and classic. :)

By far the most polished homebrew game I've seen on a Sega 8-bit system. It is really very stylish, use the hardware just right and the exploration game design is executed very nicely. I think the screen-by-screen approach was the right choice both for making development easier and because it give a clearer sense of progression in the labyrinth.

I've reach the point where the level design isn't completed and died going from an empty room to inside a wall. :(

If I may suggest one thing for future version, the feedback on hitting enemies could be improved to feel more generous to the player. Some suggestion: more noticeable hit sound, slight push back on enemies, color flash on the hit enemy (maybe using a white color version of the sprite?), or even a small explosion (a single 8x8 sprite would do, taking the slot of your own bullet so it probably wouldn't add flickering). I guess you would know best what is faisable.

Anyway I am really impressed.

This game has been tweaked to perfection!. It's hard, but not excessively so, and when I get killed I know it's my fault and not the game being cruel. Great artwork too, it's sparse (in a good way, like NES games are that use a lot of black) but effective and it's easy to tell what things you should avoid and what things you should interact with. As soon as a new screen appears you know exactly what to do, and I like that.

I found the respawning was a little frustrating. It would be nice after clearing a room if less enemies would return when you go back. But that might make the game too easy.

Having dedicated buttons to shoot right/left was a great touch and was extremely intuitive. I wonder if having a bit of physics for momentum while moving would add some depth, but it could make accurate dodging of enemies challenging.

I'm not sure how I feel about those gray enemies being able to move through walls while other enemies and projectiles can't.

Also the music is simply brilliant, I hope there's a VGM pack made for it soon. What can I say, I loved this game. :) Terrific job, a lot of care went into this and it's extremely playable and fun. Definitely the kind of thing I'd put on my flashcart for repeated plays. :D

@Bock: Thanks for the feedback. I agree that shooting the enemies should be more rewarding. I already had a feature for a 'mini'-explosion on the to-do list. But I also like the feedback on the enemies too! I'll try to implement it. It shouldn't be much of a problem to add it.
As for the sound effects. These are not mine but from the Konami game 'Firebird' (Hinotori). They will be replaced with special made effects later on (something I am incapable of myself ;P).

@Charles: Thanks. But honestly this is game is far from tweaked. The levels were made the day before the deadline. That's also why it feels very minimalistic (lots of black). I hope to solve the blackness in the next versions. But still; I am used to only use 2 colours per 8 pixels to make gfx.
The re spawning of the enemies was already on the to-do list. Some enemies will re spawn others not. I just need to make sure that the levels do not feel empty when doing some backtracking.

I'm glad you like the music. It's not made for this game but some older work from John. He is working now on a dedicated soundtrack for the game. But I first need to fix the problems with the custom voices. They sound very different than expected.

As for the drones (grey enemies). You are right. They are not fair. I just did not have a good approach for a low CPU algorithm to hunt after the player yet.

P.S. The separate fire buttons idea is a shameless stolen idea from 'Hero Core' (the inspiration).

Very impressive, loving it!

Very impressive! The title screen seems to suggest the game is called D.A.R.C. What do the letters stand for? And it also says it's Part 2. Where is Part 1? :)

tommy1983 wrote

Very impressive! The title screen seems to suggest the game is called D.A.R.C. What do the letters stand for? And it also says it's Part 2. Where is Part 1? :)

Defend,Attack,Retrieve and Control (Its a special unit).
Part I has subtitle 'Core Crisis'.

Here you can see a (work in progress) video of it :

Its not for SMS but for the MSX computer.

I'm liking this game - it's very well made and is fun to play.

My only problem is that, when exploring, I came across lots of empty screens (I assume the levels aren't yet 100% finished) and I managed to spawn inside some rocks on my way back, causing an instant game-over.

That's a minor complaint, though. :) This is a great entry.

I love this game, amazing work! Congrats!
I hope someday you'll finish it and release/sell the full game.

Is this the last accessible room? I can't pass the two moving walls...

DARC-SMS-1.00-03.png (5.41 KB)

DARC-SMS-1.00-04.png (2.43 KB)

gallos_11 wrote

I love this game, amazing work! Congrats!
I hope someday you'll finish it and release/sell the full game.

Is this the last accessible room? I can't pass the two moving walls...

There is more. Not much though.
Just shoot one of those red cores (not the eyes). Once you destroyed one, one or more of those white/blue barriers will disappear granting you access to other rooms.

If you have destroyed two of them. Not only your maximum energy will increase but also your bullet level. With the new level you can shoot the blue crates.

The first core is found after the room that will 'trap' you until you destroyed the two enemies. Good luck.

That's what I get for not reading the readme. :P
I played it on my SMS1 with the FM chip disabled and only got sound effects, no music. Then I read this forum topic and see people talking about the music in the game and I'm like "Wait, there's music?".
I'll have to play it again with the FM chip enabled before judging this. Even without music it's a nice little game though.

Zipper wrote

There is more. Not much though.

Oh, there's a lot more! I think now it's completed. :)

Btw, the music is also great and matches perfectly with the game concept.

DARC-SMS-1.00-05.png (2.79 KB)

gallos_11 wrote

Zipper wrote

There is more. Not much though.

Oh, there's a lot more! I think now it's completed. :)

Yes. But there is also some test levels on the left bottom ;) If you want to see everything.

Awesome Man , Congratulations

Alright, I've now played the game on my SMS1 with FM enabled, and I have to agree with the others that commented on the great music.

Some feedback:
* How about making it possible to move faster (e.g. if you're backtracking and just want to get from point A to point B) ? One way to do this could be a d-pad tap followed by a hold. I.e. tap right, then hold right to move right at a faster speed.

* I noticed that you can't shoot when underwater, including when being inside a waterfall. I guess this makes some of the rooms a bit more challenging, but it just feels strange to me, especially when bullets from both the player and from enemies can cross through water unhindered.

Btw, I've managed to crash the game 3 times so far. Just leave it running at the title screen, and sometimes it'll freeze after a while (like 5-10 minutes or so). First the screen stops updating but the music keeps playing, and eventually the music freezes as well.

mic_ wrote

Alright, I've now played the game on my SMS1 with FM enabled, and I have to agree with the others that commented on the great music.

Some feedback:
* How about making it possible to move faster (e.g. if you're backtracking and just want to get from point A to point B) ?

No plans at the moment. Plan was to have short-cuts for backtracking.

mic_ wrote

* I noticed that you can't shoot when underwater, including when being inside a waterfall. I guess this makes some of the rooms a bit more challenging, but it just feels strange to me, especially when bullets from both the player and from enemies can cross through water unhindered.

Unfair isn't it? :D It's part of the game-play (makes certain areas inaccessible or really difficult at start).

mic_ wrote

Btw, I've managed to crash the game 3 times so far. Just leave it running at the title screen, and sometimes it'll freeze after a while (like 5-10 minutes or so). First the screen stops updating but the music keeps playing, and eventually the music freezes as well.

Ouch. I have been very busy making it all work on real HW without glitches (VRAM updates). I am going to investigate. Thanks for the feedback.

Question: How is the sound effect and music balance? I have no idea if sound balance differs in emulators and real HW.

Here's a capture from my console: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGnOcJkRKoY#t=100

I think the FM chip / mixing is broken on my neoflash cart, though. I've heard from other people with that cart that the PSG channels are supposed to be much louder when mixed together with the FM channels than what I get from my cart.

If I had 512KB flash chip I would try on my machine, I tuned out PSG and FM balance to recordings from Space Harrier BIOS tune from JP machine.
I only can try up to 256KB, if you could make a quick "lite" test version or something I could give to a go, alternatively you could just add options to adjust volumes of SFX and/or music, its all logarithmic so you can get away with simple additions/subtractions.

Thanks TmEE.

I have implemented compression some time ago so all the rooms (even if they are empty) use less ROM. I attached the new 256kb ROM image (with SDSC header this time ;) ).
The ROM contains some slightly improved FM playback by eliminating a nasty bug in the custom voices.

I already have a function to lower the volumes of the FM music active. But I'd like to have the best setting as not everyone is going to go though the options every time ;)

I hope to get my hands on an FM-board in the near future to do some testing myself (nothing beats the real thing).

I'll give it a go and report back in about 7 hours when I am back home from work

Thanks,

I was unaware of the 256kb limit. I was under the impression that the Everdrive was the only available option. Else I would have made more effort to limit the ROM size in the first place.

I use a gutted original cart which could use up to 512KB but I just have no 512KB flash chips, only a bunch of 128 and 256KB ones :P
I need to finish off my MD flashcart to SMS adaptor I started... 3 years ago... then I get 4MB of ROM space to muck around with :3
Roughtly 3...4 hours left before I can test

EDIT:
*I had to bypass the BIOS to get the game work, my SMS1 and 2 both gave me "Software Error".
*I would say PSG needs to be louder. Recording here : http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/4/21/1876835/DARCsoundsample.ogg
*I could not access Options on the title screen or Music selection, cursor wouldn't move
*I can press pause and view map on Game Over
*Player and bullets had some artifacts, red line in front of player, black box under bullets.

OK. HW volumes are close to the emulator ones.

Thanks for the other feedback too.

This is great, it feels like an early prototype of a large and epic game, it just needs finishing :)

I know this is bad etiquette but I can't resist any longer. Is there any news on any more development of this game? I would really, really love to see this game finished and released on cart. :)

Hot_Violet wrote

I know this is bad etiquette but I can't resist any longer. Is there any news on any more development of this game? I would really, really love to see this game finished and released on cart. :)

There is progress. A lot is done on the game engine since the competition. I didn't have much time to work on it in the last 6 months as I was working on another project which I wanted to finish first. I have the intention to finish the game this year.

Nice to hear that you liked the entry.

Thanks for replying. That's great news that there are still plans for development. I have a feeling that this could be the best homebrew yet for the SMS.

By the way, have you ever considered porting over DARC part one from the MSX at all?

Hot_Violet wrote

By the way, have you ever considered porting over DARC part one from the MSX at all?

I once thought about it but it would be better to redo the whole game instead of porting it. No plans atm.

I just tried this game on my Japanese SMS last night, coincidentally. The music is fantastic! Gameplay is lots of fun, too. Please finish it up!

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